Tuesday, May 28, 2013

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Mackie Lane Update:We continue to nourish the soil with manures and compost for winter planting. So far this includes broadbeans, peas, cauliflowers, Asian greens, garlic (lots of garlic!), strawberries, rhubarb and much more. The square metre gardens are also doing well. The large tree near the garden entrance, the site of many garden celebrations, has responded well to our care and grown about two metres since we started.

The succulents on the Mackie Lane footpath outside the garden have grown from single leaves and are now extremely impressive.

We’re working as a group to develop the planting plan for winter and looking ahead to spring. Meanwhile planning is also underway to make the new section of the garden a more welcoming space and we continue to source paling fences to recycle into new garden beds. With the larger space we now need to make ‘rooms’ and come up with ways to bring more height into the garden. We’re sharing ideas and look forward to further beautifying the space.

The team is also seeking sponsorship for a new garden shed to provide much needed secure and dry storage and, potentially in the future to have a pergola like structure to provide shelter and shade. This will allow us to have more education workshops, which can go ahead despite inclement weather.

Mackie Lane Monthly Celebration:At our recent MCG meeting wedecided to have a monthly celebration on the first Sunday of the month. Come along on Sunday 2 June at 4pm after the regular Mackie Lane working bee. BYO drinks and nibbles. We will also take this opportunity to toss around some ideas for the new section of the garden. All welcome.

Middle Head Update:The curry plot is growing well and the snow peas are thriving at the other end of that plot. The soil in Bed 3 was completely removed and sifted to clear away the fine roots from the pine tree nearby. A geotextile mat was installed on top of cardboard and paper to inhibit the tree root penetration. The soil was then replaced with manure and compost, and a layer of Lucerne mulch. A nice crop of broad beans is growing, as well as broccoli, parsley and mustard leaf. Cabbage seedlings have recently been added to this bed. Hoops have been added to strengthen the framework and the netting re- installed. Pea seeds planted in Bed 1 have provided a challenge and we are now trying new pea seeds in their place. We are regularly harvesting broccoli, silver beet, chilies, celery, parsley and lettuce from the other beds. Root vegetables and garlic are also growing. Nets have been removed from the Native Food beds and the local wildlife is not dining on the produce.

The plaque in memory of David Luke is now in place on the sandstone rock next to the Sandpaper Fig.

Verge Gardens:Students at Macquarie University are undertaking a project on verge gardening in Mosman, with the support of the Council. They would appreciate your support in completing a short survey. Here is the link

Thank you:We are very grateful for the support of our ongoing sponsors. We could not have built the garden without the financial support of sponsors such as Bendigo Bank and Bunnings. Many thanks also to Mosman Council, Ausgrid, NPWS, Kimbriki, Poskitt Design, Proj-X, Honeysuckle Garden Centre, Mosman Climate Challenge Group and the Mosman Daily.

TED talk on guerilla gardening: A great story about the magic of community food gardening. Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA -- in abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. Why? For fun, for defiance, for beauty and to offer some alternative to fast food in a community where "the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys." Click here

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

We have welcomed Autumn with the completion of another 2 large garden beds. These are now being prepared for the first of our feature ‘square metre gardens’. Come along during autumn and winter to take a look at how this highly efficient approach combines both organic gardening and companion planting principles. Our first plots are planned to highlight an all-round autumn veggie and herb garden as well as a ‘soup bed’ featuring root vegetables.

The garden viewed from Mackie Lane

All the beds have now been nourished with manures and composts and are ready for autumn/winter planting. Seedlings, including peas, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and a range of onions and leeks, have been planted. At this stage, seeds have also been sown for more cabbage, silverbeet, chard, kale, a variety of lettuces, rocket, celeriac and broad beans.

Harvesting has seen a bounty of produce over the last month with beans, spinach, silverbeet, tomatoes, various herbs especially basil, chives, kaffir limes, eggplant, endive, celery and the last of our summer carrots and beetroot have been thoroughly enjoyed.

Sweet peas are in! Our thanks to Norma who has been championing the sowing of our sweet peas ensuring they were in on St Patrick’s Day! Here’s hoping they grow to grace our fences over the coming months as they did so well last year – a highly anticipated addition to the garden by all, especially the residents of The Manors and Mackie Lane who enjoy them as much as we do.

Thank you to Silvana Griffith: Mackie Lane Garden Coordinator Silvana Griffith is about to take on a new work project with heavy demands on her time, so sadly has stepped down as Mackie Lane Gardening Coordinator. Silvana has done a fabulous job and we are very grateful for her dedication and enthusiasm. She has assured us that she will still be coming to the garden. Congratulations Silvana and thank you from all the Mackie Lane gardeners.

Middle Head leeks

Middle Head Update:We’ve planted two beds after adding home-grown compost and cow manure etc. One is a ‘Curry Plot’ with vegetables suitable for making curry such as, peas, onions, carrots, turnips, celeriac, mini cauliflowers, coriander and fenugreek. The other bed has celeriac, beetroot and broccolini. In another bed we have sown a green manure crop in preparation for planting soon in the hope of overcoming the issue of over-alkalinized soil. The tub that gave the wonderful garlic crop has been sown with parsnip, daikon radish and salsify. We’ve already had finger limes from the three trees planted. We regularly harvest more bok choy, celery, eggplants, leeks and silverbeet than we can eat but are now planting winter crops and experimenting with one of Lolo Holbein's magic square designs for winter salads. The native beds have been huge success.

Tribute to David Luke: A sandpaper fig has been planted in David Luke’s memory and a lovely piece of sandstone found by one of the NPWS volunteers has been made into a plaque in David’s honour.

Beauty Point Public School: Mosman Community Gardeners continue to work with the school on the veggie garden. Many thanks to Balgowlah Bunnings who have offered to sponsor the school garden to run planting and composting workshops with the children.

Visit to Paddington Community Garden:A group of us (Silvana, Peter, Tina and Gill) went along to Paddington Community Garden and were very impressed by the flourishing state of their produce. They combine individually run plots along with communal plots and require members to put in a certain amount of time each week to the communal gardening beds as well as gardening their own. Each new member undergoes individual training for a few weeks to ensure they understand the principles of permaculture and organic gardening. Whilst the location is very different from our two gardens, being in a gully and surrounded by trees, it is well worth a visit. One of their hallmarks is producing their own compost from kitchen scraps donated by neighbours and organic veggie retailers (delivered to the garden) combined with horse manure from the police stables, so, after a number of years, their soil is highly productive. They also have a superb self-built permanent wooden shelter where they run workshops and gather for harvest meals. See the Paddington Community Garden website for more details.